Behind The Story

Short extract from a story about Ronnie Ekelund in the forthcoming issue of The Blizzard.

Did Jason Dodd see himself as a goalscorer at Saints?

The second part of an interview wit Terry Paine about playing against some of Britain's toughest players, playing for England and much more.

Nobody has played more games for Southampton than Terry Paine, with more than 800 games for the club between 1957 and 1974. But if a certain local club, along with a famous London one, had got their act together he may never have played for Saints.

Terry Paine recalls nutmegging legendary Saints hardman Cliff Huxford in training. He didn't do it again.

Find out how a teenager from Bath with aspirations to play professional cricket for Somerset become a Southampton stalwart and fan favourite over a 16 year career on the south coast.

For those Southampton fans who haven't had chance to listen to my podcast, here's a one minute taster of some quotes from the ex-Saints players I've interviewed so far. And all to the backdrop of some moody eighties compute game synths.

Nobody swears quite like Mick Channon. It's a joy to listen to his Wiltshire burr say the eff word, it really is.

Find out in the clip!

Steve Williams on inspiration

Steve Williams made his Saints debut aged 17 at Fratton Park, before going on to captain arguably Saints' best ever side, who finished second in the league in 1984 and narrowly lost the FA Cup semi-final. Who were his heroes and influences? His most memorable games? What pieces of the jigsaw does he think the club were missing to win the trophy that season? Why did he leave for Arsenal? And what about the rumour he nearly came back to the club in the early 1990s? Steve answers all these questions in this podcast.

The 1979 League Cup Final taught Steve a big lesson.

I spoke to Steve Williams last week. Here’s a taster of our chat.

Marian talks about his favourite Saints goal, strike partner and manager; as well as how the move to The Dell didn't happen, his relationship with the fans, and how he had to say goodbye.

He had the hair, he had the swagger, he had the knack of scoring some stonking goals for Saints in the 1980s and 90s. I spoke to Glenn Cockerill about his favourite goals, how he was originally bought to replace Southampton legend Jimmy Case; and what really happened when Arsenal's Paul Davis broke his jaw at Highbury.

The 1990 World Cup in Italy - we still go on about it in England. Mainly because it was the last time we did anything on the world stage. But what was it like to be there? Author Pete Davies has the answer. His book, All Played Out, isn’t just the definitive book on the tournament, it’s also often described as one of the greatest ever books about sport. We spoke about it in this episode.

I had a chat on the phone with Russell Osman about life playing for Southampton in the 1980s and 90s, his former Ipswich Town and England manager Bobby Robson, and of course the 1981 film Escape to Victory, which he starred in with Michael Caine and Pelé.